My Enactus USA National Expo Experience as an SAC Member
Hello everyone! My name is Neha Karnam and I’m speaking on behalf of Rutgers University Enactus Chapter in New Brunswick New Jersey. Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the Enactus Nationals Expo 2023 with my university as a member of the Enactus USA Student Ambassador Council. My role along with my other dedicated and hardworking committee members was assisting in facilitating expo events and competition rooms, allowing me to meet several intelligent and inspiring students and professionals over the course of 3-days.
Being a part of the SAC exposed me to witnessing the behind-the-scenes work of the Enactus crew in conjunction to attend the Career Expo, Competition Rounds, and other professional events! My most fulfilling takeaway from the Expo was networking with talented and inspiring individuals. What’s fascinating about meeting local and global university chapters is that each geographic area whether it be a country or town has diverse needs and sustainable development goals that prevail over others. Each university was able to cater its projects to bettering its community with tangible results through its own hard work. For example, our Nationals winners BYU Hawaii successfully pinpointed an issue of food desserts and created a functioning training program to educate farmers in Kiribati through their Re-Earth Project. Social entrepreneurship can be done by any dedicated individual and no impact is a small impact as any assistance is broadening the scope of social change and results as exemplified by many universities. This is just one example; there were over 15+ universities that had projects catered to their community. Meeting these students who had varying scopes of work, but one common cause of social entrepreneurship is a proof of concept that with drive and structure any project can come to fruition. I was met with the pleasant surprise of running into many individuals through the Career Expo who shared their tips on successfully growing their project from an R&D stage to exposing me to many companies who appreciate the work Enactus does and looks for individuals who take that extra step. Me and my peers were even able to network with a venture capitalist firm who was more than willing to offer personal support. All these interactions made me aware of different facets in the professional industry that are open to explore from agriculture, sustainability, finance, and more that can all tie in my passion for sustainability and entrepreneurship. Everyone starts somewhere!
During the Expo, I was lucky enough to work with a team committed to the success of the event who were focused on building memorable experiences for all participants, including us! When facilitating over 400+ individuals with a competition that has multiple rounds scheduling and set-up can get extremely hectic. There were times we were pushed behind schedule or had to facilitate over 10 universities in a 1-hour period. However, with consistent communication and proper job breakdowns from the Enactus team, we were able to pull off an amazing Expo. My most memorable moment was making Tik-Toks with the committee for the official Enactus account and really taking in I was surrounded by like-minded people who have worked so hard to get where they are now. Meeting my fellow SAC members and hearing what led them to Enactus and their professional development pushed me to strive for myself. I made valuable connections that I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my life. The Expo itself reignited my passion for sustainability by witnessing global impact via international and local university projects and the commitment from faculty advisors and Enactus Staff. I want to join the Enactus community to be a changemaker and keep the innovative spirit alive along with other young leaders around the world.
Special shout-out to my university, Rutgers University, for winning 1st place in Early-Stage! Joining the competition team on their journey, despite not being directly on it, gave me the pleasure of seeing the amount of time and effort students and presenters put into their work. I remember sitting in our hotel rooms grilling various potential Q&A questions to announcing winners and schools on stage. Another shout-out to the amazing judges who took time to offer valuable personalized feedback for every single university that would foster growth within projects. Overall, the Enactus Expo experience was truly memorable and life changing. Congratulations to ever student leader involved into Enactus community that is taking our environmental development into their hands. I look forward to what future conferenced can offer as I plan to pursue a line of work within sustainability consulting.
